Each day we have the courage to participate and say, “I can and I will”

“Most men lead lives of quiet desperation and go to the grave with the song still in them.”-Henry David Thoreau.    Our songs are often silenced by a couple of very small words…I can’t. Henry Van Dyke said, “Use what talents you possess: The woods would be very silent if no birds sang there except those who sang the best.”

I’m full of truisms today. “Success is a journey and not a destination.” It’s not an all or none proposition.  When I look back over all of my years of coaching, I’ve noticed that most everyone I have coached has sandbagged when it comes to stating their goals. Fear of failure is a powerful obstacle to the journey. In nearly every instance, what were meant to be 3-5 year stretch goals are achieved in the first year that the person I am coaching commits to doing the stuff it takes to get a little bit better every day. The same is true for life goals. Once they envision what they want and start to take the steps necessary to get there, all of the obstacles created by ‘I can’t’ remove themselves. Each day that we wake up determined to execute on the efficiencies that get things done just a little bit faster, to set our goals just a little bit higher, to practice the disciplines that will make us a stronger player, we win. Each day we have the courage to participate and say, “I can and I will” we become the winners and our song is heard.